but There are some key differences between the two.
Version 3 was proposed in 2015 Constitutional amendment and today’s number 2 is A citizen-The statue, or law, began.
“B“For that reason, it allows the Legislature much more leeway to be able to change the details of the law with more legislation,” said Morgan Fox, political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The Ohio Responsible Political Action Committee spent $21.5 million on the 2015 Issue 3 campaign, Which was badly defeated 64% to 36%.
For this year’s election, the number will be 2 Legalizing and regulating the cultivation, manufacture, testing, and sale of marijuana to Ohio residents 21 years of age and older. It would also legalize home gardening for Ohioans 21 and older with a maximum of six plants per person and 12 plants per residence, and impose a 10% tax at the point of sale for each transaction.
the Coalition to regulate marijuana like alcohol He is behind this year’s ballot initiative.
Oligopoly Issue 3
Another key difference between the two is the oligopoly – essentially a monopoly on marijuana – that a defeated version 3 would have created. It would have granted “exclusive rights” to Commercial marijuana growth, cultivation and extraction into ten pre-defined plots of land.
“That absolutely upset people, even supporters of the legislation,” Fox said.
Don Wirtshafter, to Athens The lawyer who oversees Ohio’s Cannabis Museum and supports marijuana legalization calls himself one of the most vocal opponents of the failed Third Amendment.
“2015 was a power play by one group of financiers who created 10 number companies, and the initiative was going to give those anonymous companies operating on anonymous money a monopoly on growing and selling cannabis in the state of Ohio,” he said.
Wirtshafter plans to vote yes on this year’s effort to legalize marijuana “From being an outright naysayer to an enthusiastic yes voter.”
while Marijuana legalization failed in 2015 in Ohio He passed a constitutional amendment during the same election prohibiting the establishment of a “monopoly, oligopoly, or cartel” in the state constitution.
“We couldn’t be more different from the 2015 constitutional amendment,” said Tom Harren, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. “We are not a monopoly type framework. We are building existing medical Marijuana Infrastructure that already has hundreds of licenses.
Existing medical marijuana growers and dispensaries would have the ability to obtain an adult-use license if voters approve legalization.
Amulets
The 2015 effort to legalize marijuana included Buddy the mascot, who looked like a superhero and had Marijuana bud for head.
Buddie was supposed to garner support from college students, but instead drew criticism from child advocates who were concerned that the marketing targeted children.
“We won’t have any mascots,” Haren said.
What has changed since 2015?
A lot has happened in the marijuana scene since 2015.
Only four states legalized recreational marijuana at the time – Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. Today, 23 states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use and sale of cannabis.
Ohio legalized medical marijuana in 2016 and the first dispensary opened in 2019. 101 dispensaries have received operating certificates and 34 dispensaries have active provisional dispensary licenses as of Aug. 24, according to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.
“2015 was kind of a year ago for cannabis policy, and since then we’ve seen states do it successfully, some better than others, but we’ve seen our medical marijuana program be successful,” Haren said.
Twenty-three Ohio growers received temporary Tier I licenses and 21 obtained operating certificates. Fourteen of them obtained temporary level two licenses and 13 of them obtained operating certificates.
There were 800,682 patient recommendations for medical marijuana (a patient can have more than one recommendation), There were 384,705 patients enrolled and 178,709 patients had an active enrollment and an active recommendation, as of July 31.
Marijuana ballot
July Suffolk University/USA Today poll It shows that 59% of Ohio voters support Ohioans 21 or older purchasing and possessing marijuana. It showed that 77% of Democrats, 63% of independents, and 40% of Republicans support this issue.
Suffolk University/USA Today poll It polled 500 registered voters in Ohio Over the phone. The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points.
“The biggest contradiction is that we will be on the ballot in November,” Haren said.
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